page_title: Compagnie de la Ligne d'Italie
section_title: Ligne d’Italie
hierarchical_section_title: Compagnie de la Ligne d'Italie / History / Ligne d’Italie
caption_attribution_description: English: Share of the railway company Ligne d'Italie, issued 27. April 1856 Deutsch: Aktie über 250 Francs der Compagnie des CdF de la Ligne d'Italie vom 27. April 1856
context_page_description: The Compagnie de la Ligne d’Italie, or Ligne d’Italie for short, was a former Swiss railway company that established in 1859. In 1874, the Ligne d'Italie became part of the Compagnie du Simplon. The Compagnie du Simplon, Ligne du Simplon or Simplon for short, merged into the Western Swiss Railways in 1881.
context_section_description: Although a line on the St. Gingolph–Saint-Maurice–Brig route was technically easy to build, the Valais government was unable to attract enough Swiss investors to build the line. The share capital came from France. The driving force behind the project was the speculator Count Adrien de Lavalette (Fr). The company gained a concession for a line from Le Bouveret to Sion in 1853.
  The object of the Ligne d’Italie company founded in 1856 was to build a connection between Romandy and Italy through the Canton of Valais and the Simplon. The connection to Geneva and France was planned to run along the southern shore of Lake Geneva.
  After several requests, de Lavalette commenced construction. The Ligne d’Italie opened its first section from Le Bouveret (at the southeastern end of Lake Geneva) to Martigny via Saint-Maurice on 14 July 1859. The line was extended to Sion on 10 May 1860. On 2 April 1861, the Western Swiss Railways opened the last section of its line from Lausanne to Les Paluds near Saint-Maurice, giving the Ligne d'Italie access to the Swiss railway network.
  The next section from Sion to Sierre opened after some delay on 15 October 1868, bringing the total length of the line to 79.5 km.
  The company, which opened up the very agricultural canton of Valais, was not successful. In addition, Sardinia ceded Savoy to France in 1860 and, with the opening of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel in 1871, a line was opened from Lyon to Turin, which competed directly with the projected line. The Ligne d'Italie was liquidated in 1871 and a new company was established under the same name.
caption: 250 Franc share certificate of the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de la Ligne d'Italie issued on 27 April 1856
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